O. Reg. 565/06: INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS

Made: November 29, 2006 Filed: December 15, 2006 Published on e-Laws: December 19, 2006 Printed in The Ontario Gazette: December 30, 2006

Amending Reg. 851 of R.R.O. 1990

(Industrial Establishments)

1. Subsection 132 (1) of Regulation 851 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 is amended by striking out “section 20 of the Act” and substituting “section 33 of the Act”.

2. Section 139 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

139. (1) In this section,

“dBA” means a measure of sound level in decibels using a reference sound pressure of 20 micropascals when measured on the A-weighting network of a sound level meter;

“decibel” means a unit of measurement of sound pressure level that is equal to 20 times the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of the pressure of a sound, divided by the reference pressure of 20 micropascals;

“equivalent sound exposure level” is the steady sound level in dBA which, if present in a workplace for eight hours in a day, would contain the same total energy as that generated by the actual and varying sound levels to which a worker is exposed in his or her total work day, determined in accordance with the formula set out in subsection (2).

(2) The formula for determining the equivalent sound exposure level is as follows:

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where,

Lex,8 is the equivalent sound exposure level in 8 hours,

Σ is the sum of the values in the enclosed expression for all activities from i = 1 to i = n,

i is a discrete activity of a worker exposed to a sound level,

ti is the duration in hours of I,

SPLi is the sound level of i in dBA,

n is the total number of discrete activities in the worker’s total workday.

(3) Every employer shall take all measures reasonably necessary in the circumstances to protect workers from exposure to hazardous sound levels.

(4) The protective measures shall include the provision and use of engineering controls, work practices and, subject to subsection (7), personal protective equipment.

(5) Any measurement of sound levels in the workplace that is done in order to determine what protective measures are appropriate shall be done without regard to any use of personal protective equipment.

(6) Without limiting the generality of subsections (3) and (4), every employer shall ensure that no worker is exposed to a sound level greater than an equivalent sound exposure level of 85 dBA, Lex,8.

(7) Except in the circumstances set out in subsections (8) and (9), the employer shall protect workers from exposure to a sound level greater than the limit described in subsection (6) without requiring them to use and wear personal protective equipment.

(8) If this subsection applies, workers shall wear and use personal protective equipment appropriate in the circumstances to protect them from exposure to a sound level greater than the limit described in subsection (6).